Celebrity culture relies on big names supported by legions of faceless crew members and support staff. The 2023 documentary “David Holmes: The Boy Who Lived” (9 p.m., HBO, TV-14) reverses those roles.
“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe relates the story of the athlete, gymnast and stuntman who was his double during the “Potter” franchise and whose career ended with an accident during the shooting of “The Deathly Hallows: Part 1.”
The two young men met when Holmes was only 11. Already a celebrated gymnast from Essex, England, he was determined to become a stunt man, and landed his dream job with “Harry Potter.” “Lived” captures Radcliffe and Holmes as they grow up together on set and behind the scenes.
Radcliffe visits with Holmes and his family and friends. While he uses a wheelchair now and has had to give up his high-flying lifestyle, Holmes sees himself as anything but a victim and continues to inspire both would-be stunt performers and his disabled peers with an infectious optimism.
— Hulu launches the four-part series “Brawn: The Impossible Formula 1 Story,” hosted by “Matrix” star and racing buff Keanu Reeves.
The series revisits 2009, when a racing team came out of nowhere to dominate the sport, provoking anger from some competitors who did not see them coming.
— The term “public domain” takes on a new angle when television series come to rely extensively on footage provided by the taxpayer.
“Court Cam” (9 p.m., A&E, TV-14) captures the judicial system at its most indecorous, and “Interrogation Cam” (10 p.m., A&E, TV-14) dispenses with the sense of privacy (never mind innocent until proven guilty) to expose suspects at their most desperate moments.
— Streaming on Hulu and a product of ABC News, the documentary short “Unboxing Shein” offers a glimpse at the brave new world of fashion retail. For those (like yours truly) who may be a bit too old to have marinated in the worlds of TikTok and fast fashion, it can be a real eye-opener.
“Fast fashion” has existed for decades. Retailers like H&M and Old Navy have sold cheap clothes meant to be worn for a season and discarded. Chinese clothing outfit Shein has used the power of social media and algorithms to determine what’s “hot” on a day-to-day and even minute-to-minute basis. Inspired by influencers, young, mostly female, consumers buy cheap outfits by the box, shipped directly from China, often taking advantage of arcane import laws. “Unboxing” also interviews domestic designers who claim their creations have been plagiarized.
TONIGHT’S OTHER HIGHLIGHTS
— An 11-year-old girl adjusts to life in a new town in the 2023 adaptation of Judy Blume’s novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” (7:40 p.m., Starz).
— Ben rifles through Einstein’s drawers on “Quantum Leap” (8 p.m., NBC, TV-PG).
— Camera-wielding plastic imposters document sea creatures under duress on the season finale of “Spy in the Ocean: A Nature Miniseries” (8 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings).
— Alone for the holidays, a young woman joins forces with the neighborhood’s obsessive decorators in the 2022 romantic comedy “Haul Out the Holly” (8 p.m., Hallmark, TV-G).
— Far from Amish country on “Magnum P.I.” (9 p.m., NBC, TV-14).
— “NOVA” (9 p.m., PBS, TV-PG, check local listings) profiles scientists and medical executives at work on a vaccine that might eradicate malaria.
— Voight testifies against a drug kingpin on “Chicago P.D.” (10 p.m., NBC, r, TV-14).
— “Secrets of the Dead” (9 p.m., PBS, r, TV-PG, check local listings) looks at the origins of human habitation in the Amazon.
CULT CHOICE
A congressman (Tom Hanks) with a reputation for hard drinking and hanky-panky enlists a Washington socialite (Julia Roberts) and a CIA insider (Philip Seymour Hoffman) to funnel arms and aid to anti-Soviet resistance fighters in Afghanistan in the 2007 true-life drama-comedy “Charlie Wilson’s War” (10:20 p.m., MoMax), written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by Mike Nichols. Nichols’ final film.
SERIES NOTES
“Survivor” (8 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “The Masked Singer” (8 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Jeopardy!” (8 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … David Spade hosts “Snake Oil” (9 p.m., Fox, TV-PG) … “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” (9 p.m., ABC, TV-PG) … “The Amazing Race” (9:30 p.m., CBS, TV-PG) … “The $100,000 Pyramid” (10 p.m., ABC, TV-PG).
LATE NIGHT
Paul Giamatti and Tom Blyth are booked on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (11:35 p.m., CBS) … Jimmy Fallon welcomes Taika Waititi, Rachel Zegler, Tariq Trotter and Tim Hollingsworth on “The Tonight Show” (11:35 p.m., NBC) … Ariana DeBose, Iman Vellani and Clementine Moss visit “Late Night With Seth Meyers” (12:35 a.m., NBC).
